Parallel cable clamp



July 5, 955 E. BLANCHARD 2,712,167

PARALLEL CABLE CLAMP Filed March 7, 1951 lll l I Mill Tillllllllllllllll llll l I INVENTO R Albefii fidiwardblanc/zwd I mxl tmfUnited States Patent PARALLEL CABLE CLAMP Albert Edward Blanchard, NewHyde Park, N. Y., as-

signor to Bnrndy Engineering Co. Inc., a corporation of New'YorkApplication March 7, 1951, Serial No. 214,379

1 Claim. (Cl. 24-81) My invention relates to clamping connectors andmore particularly to connectors adapted to be quickly installed on acable or conductor.

Sometimes it is desirable to separate the various component elements ofthe connector at the top of a pole and assemble them about a wire, whichprocedure is time consuming and frequently contributes to dropping oneof the elements especially if the assembly is atmeans whereby theconnection is in position to accept resiliently an additional cable eventhough the connector is secured to a line; and to provide a clampingspring that will occupy a minimum space when compressed and lessen thepossibility of loosening the finished connectron.

I accomplish these and other objects and obtain my new results as willbe apparent from the device described in the following specification,particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a top view of my connectorshown mounted to parallel conductors, with a portion of the bolt headcut away to show the structure of the upper clamping member;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of my connector taken along line22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation view of th connector takenalong line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view of the connector showing one method ofattachment to an additional cable; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of the same showing a different methodof attachment.

In the preferred version of my invention illustrated in the drawing,reference numerals and 12 designate upper and lower clamping members,respectively, each containing parallel grooves for positioning aplurality of cables or conductors to be supported therein.

In the upper member 10, the grooves comprise concave seats designated bynumerals 14 and 16 for the respective conductors 18 and 20, whilenumerals 22 and 24 designate the corresponding seats in the lowerclamping member 12.

A bolt 26 threadedly engages aperture 28 located between the respectiveseats 22 and 2.4 in the lower clamping member, the spiral shaped spring30 being positioned between the head 32 of the bolt 26 and the upperclamping member 10. A washer 34 may be conveniently inserted between thespring and the upper clamping member, forming a support for the base ofthe spring.

The upper and lower clamping members are provided with outwardly flaredlips 36, 38 and 40, 42, respectively, having opposing cam surfaces 36a,38a, and 40a, 42a

2,712,167 Patented July 5, 1955 ice for facilitating the entrance of aconductor therebetween, the opposite set of lips adapted to becompressed at the backs thereof by finger contacting surfaces 36b, 38b,and 40b and 42b against the resilient action of the spiral spring, asshown in Fig. .4. The cable will be thus resiliently gripped afterinstallation which is an aid to the installer. To assist in thisoperation, the upper clamping member is provided with an oval shapedaperture 44, as in Figs. 1 and '3, through which the bolt projects topermit the upper clamping member to be tilted or rocked from one side toexpedite opening.

The axial ends of the clamping members 10 and 12 are formed withextending arms 46 in one member and accommodating openings or notches 48in the other to allow the upper clamping member to rock without loss oflongitudinal alignment axially of the conductors. The arms 46 are of asufiicient length to enable the connector to accommodate conductors ofvarious sizes depending on the size of the device. This constructionwill also allow two conductors of a different size to be securedtogether as is shown by cables 18 and 20 in the drawing.

The lips 36 and 38 of the upper clamping member 10 are staggered inrelationship to the lips 40 and .42, respectively, of lower clampingmember 12. Four recesses in the upper clamping member, one of which isindicated by numeral 50 in Fig. 1, accommodate the four lips of thelower clamping member, and the two recesses in the lower clampingmember, one of which is indicated by numeral 52 in Fig. 2, accommodatethe two upper lips in the upper clamping member, to permit the membersto be rocked, as is shown in Fig. 4.

in the non-illustrated empty assembled position, the clamping membersare in a closed position through the action of the spring 30. In thisposition, one set of opposing lips may be spread apart to facilitateentrance of the first cable 18 by pinching the other set of lips, thebottom member acting as a bearing surface on which the upper memberrides during the rocking action.

As shown in Fig. 4, the opposing set of lips on one side of the devicemay be pinched together by the fingers, employing the inserted cable 18as a bearing to open the other set of lips to receive the cable 20.

Another method of laterally opening the grooves is to hold the twospaced arms 46 by the thumb and middle finger while depressing the bolthead against the conical spring 30 with the forefinger forcing themembers apart, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The connector may be openedwith one hand and snapped over a cable or conductor. Releasing thefinger pressure will allow the members to be drawn together by theaction of the spring and clamp the cable or conductor. Thereafter anadditional cable may be inserted in the other side of the connectorwhile the connector is supported by the first cable.

The spring 30 is preferably spirally wound into the shape of an involutecone, as shown in Fig. 4, to allow the spring to be compressed into asingle thickness, as indicated in Fig. 1, when the bolt is tightened tosecure the connector to the conductors.

If desired the seats 14 and 16 may be scored to provide a better grip onthe conductors.

By my design I can attach the connector to an endless cable or conductorstrung across the top of a pole with one hand, and cam another wirethrough the outwardly flared lips of remaining set of grooves intoposition. The bolt may be then tightened to secure the conductors. Whenthe connector is in a normal assembled position not connected to thecables, the spring exerts sufficient pressure to maintain the memberstogether. When the connector is mounted to a first cable by opening theone set of lips, it will be self-supported on the cable until the secondcable is mounted to the connector through the remaining set of lips.This construction minimizes separation and dropping of the connector orits component parts and simplifies installation procedure.

I have thus described my invention, but I desire it understood that itis not confined to the particular forms or uses shown and described, thesame being merely illustrative, and that the invention may be carriedout in other ways without departing from the spirit of my invention,and, therefore, I claim broadly the right to employ all equivalentinstrumentalities coming within the scope of the appended claims, and bymeans of which, objects of my invention are attained and new resultsaccomplished, as it is obvious that the particular embodiments hereinshown and described are only some of the many that can be employed toattain these objects and accomplish these results.

I claim:

A connector for securing a plurality of cables comprising a pair ofcomplementary clamping members, each having a pair of opposing seatportions to accommodate the cables to be positioned therein; a boltpositioned centrally of the clamping members and extending through onemember into the other member for securing the members together with anelongated recess for the bolt in the one member to permit said member tobe tilted with respect to the other member, one of said clamping membershaving integrally extending arm portions on the two end faceslongitudinally positioned with respect to the seat portions, the otherof said clamping members having recesses for receiving said arm portionson the corresponding two end faces for keeping the two clamping membersin aligned position when the clamping members are open for receiving thecables, and a spiral spring having a flat supporting section positionedbetween the head of the bolt and the adjacent clamping member for urgingthe said clamping member towards the other clamping member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

